Pipe-ball.



EF. BLESVSING.

PIPE BALL.

APPLICVATION F|LE D JULY 21.1916;

Patented Aug. 7, 1917.

EDGAR F. BLESSING, OF BEADING, PENNSYLVANIA.

PIPE-BALL.

Application filed July 21, 1916.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDGAR F. BLEssING, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Reading, in the county of Berks and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pipe- Balls, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in pipe balls adapted for use in the manufacture of lap-welded pipe and tubes. In actual service, these balls are used in welding, finishing and sizing Operations of making pipes and tubes and the pipe ball is placed upon the end of a long rod and then run forward between the rolls and unwelded skelp or welded pipe passed over it.

The invention relates to the' pipe ball hereinafter described and illustrated.

In the drawings accompanying and forming part hereof- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a pipe ball.

Fig. 2 is a vertical central section.

It has been quite common in the art to make pipe balls of cast iron and also of manganese steel but great difiiculty has been experienced in making balls which will not stick in the process of forming the pipe. Manganese steel has been found the most satisfactory material except for the fact that as ordinarily made these balls have a tendency to stick and one of the objects of my invention is to overcome this tendency. One of the common ways of making pipe balls is to cast them of manganese steel; then the balls are given a heat treatment which consists of charging the cold articles into a cold furnace and slowly and uniformly heating them to a temperature of about 1000 or l050 C. and then quenching them in water. When treated in this manner the structure of the steel becomes almost or entirely austenitic and the metal acquires its maximum degree of toughness. Subsc- -quently the balls would be ground to size ready for use. This process, however, resulted in a polished metallic surface objectionable because of its tendency to stick.

According to my preferred method of making these pipe balls, the balls, after being cast, are preferably ground to size before given the heat treatment. This provides a ball of the exact shape and size necessary but instead of having a bright metallic surface, the ball is provided with Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 7, 1917.

Serial No. 11o,59s.

an oxidized or non-metallic surface which will not stick and which is in fact practically non-Weldable. The heat treatment may be that above described as now in common use or it may be a different treatment, which I prefer and which may be described as follows: The cold balls, or balls slightly preheated, after being ground to size, are placed in a furnace heated to about ll50 C. previous to chargng, and then the balls are rapidly heated to about 1050 C. and quenched in water. This method of heat treatment also provides an oxidized or nonmetallic surface which may also be described as non-weldable. \/V hile the thickness of the oxidized, non-metallic, or non-weldable sur face, is only about one-thirty-second of an inch thick, nevertheless the surface is sufficiently thick to withstand a churning operation such, for example, as that which is obtained in a rumble, where the balls are tumbled around in a revolving drum. This treatment provides a glossy finish to the oxidized, non-metallic, or non-weldable surface, the thickness of which is still sufficient to carry out the purposes of my invention and prevent sticking.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have produced an improved pipe ball. While I have described two ways by which the castings may be given the heat treatment, I do not wish to be limited to these, nor to the exact steps in the carrying out of my method. In fact, I desire the appended claims to cover a pipe ball made of a weldable material and having a non-weldable finish, together with the process by which a ball made of such material is given that finish which will prevent stickin and which may be described as non-welable, oxidized, or non-metallic.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. As a new article of manufacture, a pipe ball made of weldable material and having a non-weldable finish.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a metal pipe ball made to size and having an oxidized surface.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

VILLA M. BAKER, M. W. JAooBs, Jr.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "commissioner of Patents, Washington, ID. c." 

